JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a convicted serial killer Thursday, ruling that Jacksonville prosecutors shouldn't have been allowed to use his admitted hatred of homosexuals against him.

The justices unanimously ordered that Gary Ray Bowles, a drifter once featured on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, have a new sentencing proceeding before a jury.

Bowles, arrested in the murder of six men along the East Coast, is on death row for the 1994 slaying of Walter Hinton at the victim's home in Jacksonville.

Bowles pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the Hinton case and admitted five other murders in cities along Interstate 95, including the May 5, 1994 slaying of Savannahian Milton Bradley.

During Bowles' 1996 sentencing in the Hinton murder, jurors learned through police testimony and Bowles' confession that Bowles didn't like homosexuals and blamed them for his ex-girlfriend's abortion of his child.

"Mr. Hinton was a homosexual," Assistant State Attorney Bernardo de la Rionda said in opening statements at the sentencing. "And Bowles didn't like homosexuals. In fact, Bowles had two former girlfriends who left him because of Bowles' lifestyle."

Despite his stated hatred of gays, Bowles regularly engaged in homosexual sex for money, according to court documents.

Defense attorneys objected to de la Rionda's comments and asked Circuit Judge Jack Schemer for a mistrial, which was denied.

The Supreme Court ruled Bowles' lifestyle had no relevance to the case because prosecutors didn't prove Bowles' hatred of homosexuals caused him to kill Hinton.

The Attorney General's Office can move for a rehearing of Thursday's ruling.